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Chapter 8: Running with Your Whole Heart

The first question:

Osho,Yesterday you said that those who search will miss. And one of your famous books is called, “Those Who Search Find.” What is the truth? Please explain.

Mulla Nasruddin and his friend were traveling home on a certain path. Suddenly, his friend grabbed Nasruddin’s arm, saying, “Quick! Run! Escape!” and dragged him into a nearby hotel. Breathing heavily, Mulla followed him nervously. Then he asked, “What’s wrong? Are the people who do vasectomies coming? Why are you so agitated?”

His friend said, “This is even more dangerous than a vasectomy. Did you see my wife coming this way talking with my girlfriend?”

The Mulla carefully looked out and said, “Praise be to Allah for saving me in such a beautiful manner.”

His friend asked him, “Why did you say that Allah has saved you so well?”

Mulla replied, “You were wrong on one point. Your wife is not talking to your girlfriend. My wife is talking to my girlfriend.”

But both the things can be true simultaneously; there is no contradiction in this. “Those who search find” and “Those who search lose” can both be true at the same time. There is no contradiction. Try to understand this. The one who never searches will never find anything, but the one who only goes on searching will also never find anything. There comes a day when you must seek and there comes a day when you must stop this seeking and simply sit down. “Those who search find” is the first step. Half of the journey involves searching. The other half takes place when you stop searching.

Buddha searched for six years. He toiled ceaslessly. He did whatever he could, whatever his teachers told him to do. He practiced yoga, he recited mantras, he followed great asceticism, he fasted, he was devout, he meditated.he did everything. He drowned himself completely in all of these activities, but with no result.